The Voice of The One (DBS Short Story)
by Cutixemma
Summary: He thinks he is the one and only Goku, and that nobody should take that away. But his own image of being Goku is shattered after he sides with the birds that go against Broly. Inspired by the current serious situation regarding Twitter and Funimation. The story is a symbolism of pretty much most parts of that controversy. Criticism is accepted.


He thinks he is the one. He thinks he is the only. He thinks he is the Goku. The one and only Goku. He thinks he is. He has to be.

So he acts like a fool. Of course Goku is a fool. How can he not be? Except how can he act like a fool, when he really is one? He is a different kind of fool. The one that makes the actual Goku seem bright.

He also gets naughty with girls. And of course, Goku was oblivious with the concept of females in the past. The fool gets spot on with it. Except he overdid it. He crossed the line. He did things more unacceptable than Goku did. At least the actual one stopped doing that.

And he does things that Goku cannot do. If he really were to be like him, chances are, he won't have this job. It gets him what he need. It lets everyone hears him. It makes him Goku. It is his life.

And if Goku doesn't exist, then he won't be him.

But that cannot be right, he thinks. He is Goku and he should be Goku. Oh please, he thinks. He is Goku!

Listen to his voice! The voice everyone knows! The voice that suits the alien everyone love! An excitable Saiyan who loves to fight and get stronger! This voice embodies him. Goku! He is him! Their ears say so. Their ears consider his voice the best.

How can anybody take that away from him? He is and will always be Goku. He is Goku. He's the one and only Goku. Who cares if he's not the first? Or the original? In fact, who even cares about them at all? They're nothing like him. Forget the first. Forget the original. Forget the wannabes. Forget all the imposters. They are not him. They are not the Goku, because he is Goku.

He is the one.

* * *

Lately, many birds fly around, their voices reaching to his ears. They're the opposite of music; the lack of rhythm, tune and melody. There have been attempts to ignore the endless squawking, but no methods are succeeding in doing so. He can sense the aura of them. Not so powerful in terms of strength but powerful enough to tear him apart. The squawks are all too much, though he is too hesitant to stop them.

He hears that someone is guilty. His friend Bulma says so. Immediately, Goku trusts her. Of course he trusts her. She's a close friend. No. **Best** friend. She may be the replacement, but she is still Bulma. But this isn't important. What matters is what is happening now.

She had told Goku before that she had exposed her 'truth' to the world about Broly's misconduct, specifically his supposed inappropriate intimidation against her. A group that consists of chickens, whom she proudly consider herself a part of, speaks out against Broly. She convinces him to support her. Even her husband Vegeta backs her up. And so do their friends. They're all in this together.

Goku keeps his words to himself. But that didn't last long. Currently he's watching them burn a big Saiyan alive on a tall cross, his hands nailed on the ends of the horizontal wood and his feet at the bottom, all while they are joking about cooking a broccoli that serves as a holy grail. There are also flying turkeys excreting on him, taunting him. Goku has no business in this activity. It's best not to get involved. But still, the voices hurt him. They irritate him, questioning him on who he gives his support to.

This person, who is getting toasted by bonfire, is someone whom Goku met back on another planet. He is none other than Broly, of course. Based on how he sounds, he is whimpering while getting tortured. Possibly the fire beneath him have such enormous power. He seems to be hearing the voices that Goku is hearing right now. This can be told by the distress on his face, suffering from the grilling pain the fire and verbal abuse inflicts on him.

The words are clear yet foggy. All rage, all yell. So high that they are an internal and dumbed-down version of a Super Saiyan transformation. Those words are not only from the birds hovering above, but also from Goku's friends, especially Bulma. Oh, they can destroy a defenceless being like this.

Straight away, Goku empathize with her. She is extremely upset. He needs to support her. Not just because she asked him to. He should care for her. What are friends for? Ultimately, she's very angry at Broly for attempting to attack her and eat her, so Goku should be too. And now he feels like his friends. And also a shame. How dare he thought that there was something good in Broly? Oh, he wishes he eat his previous speech towards him. Now the ritual makes a lot of sense. This is a punishment to the guilty! What else are the birds angry for? The birds could have gone to another person they think is their problem. They are here to get rid of the problem.

And their yelling no longer bother Goku's ears. He get it now. He should follow their way so that the pain will go away. The problem is solved. All he has to do is to back Bulma up and it's all good. Hopefully he won't end up like Broly. He hopes.

And he turns up to see a look of horror on Broly's face. His wide eyes stares at everyone surrounding him, including the recently-joined Goku. His eyes bring down waterfalls, but they aren't strong enough to put out the blaze. And now everyone and the birds cheer as his skin reddens and darkens into blackness, his screams escalating to his limit. Goku notices all this, but he remains on their side. He better not be their target as well.

_"...Guys..."_ cried Broly weakly, his throat getting sore. _"Can't you... see what you're... doing? Why am I the one... getting this... when you guys... also did it?..."_

But they ignore his cries. They didn't give him a chance. He's already about to die. It's best that way. They fail to see the crying face that is starting to reduce into muscles. But they don't care. This is the predator. The creature. The monster. The devil. He deserves no sympathy for the problems he caused. Good riddance.

Ashes are on the ground. They are then swept into a dustpan and thrown into the trash can outside the workplace. Devils don't deserve graves. They don't. The place is now secured from demons. "Hallelujah," they sarcastically say, "the devil is dead." Everyone is clapping at that statement. They are then congratulated by the chickens. They all did it. They got rid of the thing. They did it. They saved themselves.

Then the voices come back, and headache strikes on every single one of Goku's friends. Bulma, Vegeta, Piccolo and Yamcha all screamed in pain upon that. Goku feels the same pain. So much worse than his pain before. The voices are against him. This time round, they feel different compared to the birds present here. They must be from the outside, judging him for his actions. He feels so irritated by them for such names. He thinks he isn't what they claim him to be. He cannot stand them for their insults against him. They won't go away.

They won't go away...

* * *

War is declared. Two different groups are attacking each other through weapons of words. And the chickens has done many malicious things. All is utter chaos that doesn't seem to have an ending. The other group is the eagles, so the outcome should be obvious. But the chickens make this too difficult. They are a nuisance indeed.

Headaches never go away. The ramblings keep on going. There's nothing Goku can do but shield himself with all his might. Yet the eagles still come to him viciously. He is an easy prey. They can touch him with no issues.

He sweats. He is supposed to be stronger than this. Otherwise he proves them right. No. They are wrong. He is strong. He is Goku after all. He can deal with this.

He remembers the chickens. They don't feel human. Just like him. He's an alien. That's how he feels for them. Their way of thinking matches with him. They are kinda like him. And they also scream. Just like him. Goku is a known screamer, so they're similar. No. They're the same. Goku shares their voice. They share the words they say. Truly, they are one and only. They are Gok-

In an instant, that thought makes him shudder. Impossible. He cannot be the same as those voices that he follows. They're nothing like him. They're physically weaker than him and they have no combat experience. They're only strong when it comes to using words. No. They're not Goku. He knows that, because he is Goku. Only he is Goku. The one and only Goku. The one and only.

He remembers why he sides with them. Knowing himself, it is best that he sticks with them. For all he know, they will probably attack him if he doesn't share their mentality. As long as he opposes the spirit, who is forbidden to enter the workplace, and the eagles on his side, he's all good.

But the indignant birds tackle again, calling him a selfish moron for his actions. No matter what he does to erase the mockers, it gets worse and worse. He has been getting rid of some of these voices over and over again, and yet more of them comes. He's exhausted. He wants to get out of this. He has to lock himself from crazy birds. He has to do it in such a way that no voice of theirs will ever enter his head again.

And he teleports to the interior of his house instantly. He locks the doors, windows and anything accessible. He even shuts the curtains. This personal space is for him and him only. Not his best friends, not his mentors, not even his wife Chi Chi or his sons Gohan and Goten. This is for Goku only. This is all for him.

No more eagles. No more voices. No more words. No more headaches. No more pain.

The place feels cold, he acknowledged. It has been stressful recently. The only thing he can see right now are the birds, some of them wounded, with their beaks holding on the papers that he himself had written before. He can read them just as he sees them. But then he notices the fact that he's supposed to be illiterate. Goku cannot read or write. Ugh, whatever! He still is Goku. Nothing wrong with having literacy. After all, he had no problems with the changes put onto Goku back when he first became him. It's part of the job. Whatever character he is, he's still him.

He can only sit here and stare. Quite a boring place, honestly. Other than the variety of birds here and there, as well as his private treasure, this place is empty. Wait, empty? Goku refuses that. The room isn't empty. Because he is here. Please. Him being here is good enough. There's no such thing as 'empty' when Goku is here. Everyone knows that.

Yes. He is here. Goku is here. Everything is better with Goku. Why can't the eagles see that? Now that he thinks about them, there's little he knows about them. All he knows about them is that right before they started to fight him, they actually used to be his admirers.

The eagles loved to hear him speak. His own voice would make them recognize him as Goku momentarily. They either liked or loved him, which was why they requested him to sign on their mementos. They looked up to him. Goku was exhausted, having being asked to sign here and there multiple times. But that was what he get with a job like this. So he gave them a price.

Yes. He wouldn't have become Goku if it weren't for his job. But the attention was killing him.

And then, after what he did to Broly, the praises were replaced with hate and they damaged him further. The eagles dug into his ears and drilled into his brain like dirt. The agony was close to unavoidable and he could only stop that through isolating himself from everybody.

Thank goodness, he tells himself that. No chaos entering this protected place. The only person that can go inside is Goku, and that's final. No disturbance. No eagles. No voices to be heard. No voice, no voice, no voice, no voi-

At this moment, another person appears in this place without warning. He resembles him a lot. The funny spiky hair, the orange gi, the face, the boots. This person is a Goku, which discomforts the other one.

"Why are you doing this?" a soft, disheartened voice comes out of the Goku that came, which shoots the other one to the core.

Already, he sweats bullets. He recognize the voice. That one voice that makes the Goku that appeared out of nowhere like no other ones that came after him. No... that's the voice that the uncomfortable one used to mimic, right before he eventually used his own voice.

That's the first Goku of the language spoken by them.

A ball of light, or a ki blast, is formed in the not-first Goku's hand. He shoots it at his predecessor to get him out of his place. The blast hits him and he disappears into thin air. Now there is one Goku in this room again, and he breathes in and out, in and out, heavily.

He wishes that he can get another ability that enables the place he is in to be fully locked so that nobody who can teleport can go in. Except Goku never have that ability, and he dreads on the coming of another Goku.

And indeed, another one appeared right behind him.

"You **dare** kick me out!?" a different, slightly high-pitch voice comes out of that Goku. "I was about to meet my fans and you took that chance away!"

The current Goku turns around and, in a fit of rage, punches him in the face, which makes him disappear like the other one. He had a reason why he kicked him out of the meeting between the famous and their admirers. And he hates how the kicked-out Goku doesn't see that.

There can only be one Goku. One true Goku. Any other Goku deserves to be kicked out.

And he pants again. He used up a lot of energy to do what he had to do. And he still gets problems. Everyone's against him at this point. And he's so, so tired. He is marked a bad guy. But why? Why are the other Gokus angry at him when it is clear that he is the superior? The true one? The one and only? The real Goku?

And then more clones of him appear. More than one. And they speak out, the voices varying. One sounds like he's attempting to be a teenager. One sounds like he has a cold. One sounds deep and manly. Two sound inexperienced with emotions. One sounds too foreign. And one sounds... decent.

But their voices are the only difference, for Goku knows that they are against him. Their voices collided into one mess of complaints and he couldn't tell what they are all yelling about other than the fact that they are insulting him. This is as despicable as the eagles and he wants to end it all.

His hand targetted to the mob of Goku 'pretenders' and the big ki blast appears and hit them like a bowling ball rolling into bowling pins. All of them poof into nothingness and their voices are all gone.

Goku is relieved. He is alone again. He is one again. One again... One...

And another Goku comes, and it terrifies him. Not because that is yet another Goku, but also because he is glowing with an aura and that his hair and eyes aren't black like the previous ones that came and blasted off.

Instead, they're white.

'He' speaks out. The voice sounds old and it makes him a she. She is also scolding him, but he cannot understand her without the presence of a translator. Wait a minute... hang on a second! Oh no. Oh no no no no. That Goku isn't really like any other Goku. She doesn't share the same language as him. And this hits him. This is the main purpose of his job. It is to translate what she is saying to the listeners who doesn't know her language. This is, after all, the original language of Goku.

She is the original Goku.

He cannot believe it. Why is he shaking? Why can't he control it? He is Goku and yet... he fears her! What is the reason for this? Why is he feeling like this? Is it because he... he...

No! He refuses to think that way! He is Goku. He is known as Goku! No way he cannot be him, because he is him. No no **NO!** Enough is enough! Something has to be done! He can do this! He is Goku! He's Goku! And she's not! She doesn't deserve to be Goku! Not after what she did to him!

Listen to her! She sounds nothing like a man! Her voice is more suitable for old ladies and grandmas, because she is them! How dare she ruin Goku like that? He's not them! He needs a man as him! No no no! She should not be him! She's not him!

**"There can only be one Goku!"** he yells at her confidently. **"And that Goku will be ME!"**

And he yells. Yells up to the maximum. He is confident that he can do this. He follows her the most, above all Gokus. Yes... he's the only one whose power matches her. He's the one and only!

All he needs to do is to completely exhaust himself to the point where Ultra Instinct is obtained.

She continues to stare at him as his hair glows to yellow. It may seem like a mistake, but he knows what he is doing. He does what he's known to do; screaming. The level goes up. Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan 2, Super Saiyan 3. That's all he need. He doesn't need higher forms for this as he is intending to be almost out of energy.

And his angry voice goes higher, higher, higher, higher up until his body gives up. He feels like passing out, and his long golden spiky hair, caveman-like brows and aqua irises with pupils all go away as he reverts back to his base form. Oh, he feels like dying, but he's standing all right. And still, the original Goku remains at a position where she is standing.

His hair rises. The vibrant aura appears. And his eyes... his eyes... they turn from black to white with pupils. And to conclude the transformation, his hair turns white.

Now they are equal. But she sneer at him being at her level, for she knows it isn't all about whether or not he's trying to be like her.

He laughs at hearing her talking in a low tone and starts to taunt her. "I'm in this form. You're going down." But when he raise his head up, she's no longer here. Darn it. All that power up for nothing. And he feels betrayed. "Hey! Where did you go!? I was hoping for a fight! Come back! Come... _back_..."

But she didn't came. Now he's all alone again, in complete disappointment of the outcome. It is so, so embarrassing and painful. Lots of sweat are dripping down his face. His throat feels too dry from all that screaming. His tired legs shakes until they give up and force him kneel down. And he sniffs as tears roll down his glowing cheeks. He feels like he is defeated by her.

A Saiyan, currently in his Mastered Ultra Instinct form, is crying pathetically at this situation. He is in this form and yet he still breathes heavily. Something's very wrong. What can this mean? What... what is he anymore? He's in this form yet it doesn't act like it. He's Goku and yet... he doesn't act like him.

What...is...he?

Another one appears and he looks up to see who it is. It isn't another Goku and yet he shakes at a familiar face. He must be hallucinating this person because the latter was burned to death. And the ones standing beside him are the eagles. All of them are looking at Goku disapprovingly. The weakened look on his face, combined with his MUI form, makes him look like an old man. Vulnerable.

"Remember me, Goku?" the spirit asks. "I remember when you told me to call you Kakarot."

Goku is speechless. Of course he remembers him. But he doesn't know what to say. Especially since he has come to this point.

"You know... I used to think that you are a really nice guy," said Broly, "and that you really are Goku... or Kakarot. But he doesn't act like this. You're not him, are you?"

Still, he cannot say anything.

All of a sudden, another one appears beside Broly. It's Frieza. He seems to be supporting him, based on him being on his and the eagles' side. Goku don't know what to think anymore, seeing a villain siding with someone whose species he hates.

"Well _Goku_," said Frieza in a serious tone, "even monkeys act better than you. I can't believe you are this low."

Goku gasps at that. Frieza, of all people, just said that to him. He is going to give Frieza a beating for this. He attempts to yell at him for his hypocrisy, but as he hears himself, he notices how he barely even produced a sound. He must have been screaming during his transformations and at that woman. Now it's nothing more than a wheeze. He cannot say anything at all.

"Tell me, _Kakarot._ Without your voice, what are you?" asked Broly.

The moment he hears that, his self-image is shattered. He recalls way back to when he first became Goku. How he reads every line that belongs to him. How he progressed on his years of being him, eventually to the point where he saw himself as Goku. That is how he is known as and associated to Goku by everyone. It's his voice. That's the point of his job. His job makes him Goku. All that wouldn't happen if he didn't choose this job. The job of being Goku's voice.

Without his job and voice, he is not Goku. He is nothing like Goku. He is nobody. That's who he is. A nobody.

"Hmph," scoffed Frieza. "Why am I not surprised? C'mon guys, let's not waste our time on this."

And they all fly away, leaving the empty shell behind in his own room. There is no sign of recovery from him and he worsens in his state. He is completely alone. The only one in this room of nonsensical papers. He cannot get up. He's not getting any better. Not after what happened. There's no one else to help him. And he cannot help himself at all. Everyone doesn't likes him. Who would help a nobod-

No! Nononono! He's not a nobody! He's Goku! He's him! He'sGokuGokuGokuGokuGokuGokuGokuGoku.

He still try to think that he is Goku. He's Goku! How can he not be Goku without his voice? He's Goku! Why are they leaving him? He's Goku! They like Goku. He's Goku! He is Goku. He is...

...he is...

...is...

...

...too tired...

...

...sooo...tired...

...

...

. . .

. . .

* * *

This is very bad. He's not waking up.

Chi Chi has been trying every way possible to get Goku up from his bed. She pushed and pulled him multiple times, but he was unresponsive. He was pushed off from the bed, but he didn't wake up. Chi Chi went as far as knocking his head with a frying pan. Nothing happened. The Dragon Balls cannot be used to revive Goku, for he was already revived from them once.

Everyone is freaking out in horror upon hearing that news. Gohan and Goten stopped functioning, Bulma fainted, Vegeta no longer knew what to think of this, Krillin is saddened and everything is utter chaos. There is no point of return from this horrible news. The world will not be safe without Goku and they are doomed in their state like this.

Chi Chi doesn't want this. Not again. Everyone's gonna die without his presence. He's important to them and the world. This is the worst day of her life. She has been crying for God knows how long. She cannot accept all this. She doesn't want all this.

And she cry and cry and cry... until Whis appears inside her house again. There's a serious look on his face. Chi Chi notices him and runs to him immediately, being desperate about Goku.

"Whis! I heard you can revive people! Can you bring Goku back?"

A frown is formed on his face, an indication of a bad news. "Oh, I'm sorry, Chi Chi. I cannot revive him."

Chi Chi is shocked. "What!? But you can revive people back to life!"

"Apparently, Goku is not dead," Whis told her.

**"WHAT!?"**

"There appears to be something... off with Goku. I can sense his life in him, but it is beyond my power to be able to wake him up."

Chi Chi feels so confused and so angry at the same time. It turns out that Goku is alive. It's just that he is trapped in an unresponsive body. She cannot believe that not even Whis can solve this problem. This has to be a joke.

"You see, Chi Chi. Goku is in a deep sleep. He lost his voice. And without it, he won't be here."

"He lost his voice!? Are you serious, Whis? How can he lost his voice during his sleep? He was just fine last night and now he's in a deep sleep!? What's going on, Whis? Tell me!"

Whis walks to the window and opens them, letting the fresh air enter the house. Chi Chi does not know what he is planning to do, until he points his fingers to the sky. Chi Chi looks at it and still doesn't get it. What does the sky have to do with Goku's current state?

A few minutes later, birds fly past by the clouds. Whis instantly points to them. Chi Chi raises her eyebrow. Birds? He has got to be kidding her. When he speaks out about them, Chi Chi becomes even more puzzled.

"He refuses to listen to the eagles, Chi Chi. The eagles speaks the truth."

Then Whis have his hand pointing to a picture of a happy, smiling Goku on the frame.

"And Goku locked himself from the world to stop listening to the eagles. That is his downfall. He is in a deep sleep, because he's not waking up to look at what is around him. He doesn't want to see the truth. He doesn't want to believe the truth."

"...Which is?"

Whis turns to face her, a dead serious look on his eyes.

"He is not the one and only Goku."


End file.
